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Failure to deal with flags issue creating dangerous vacuum.

Speaking after the erection of yet more flags across mixed
residential areas of South Belfast, Alex Maskey has slammed the lack of
political will within unionism to deal with contentious issues.

Mr Maskey stated,

“Last night the Finaghy area became the latest community to be
subjected to the erection of yet more flags. Over the past few days my office
and my party colleague Máirtín Ó Muilleoir has again been inundated with
complaints from residents about what they see as acts of intimidation in the
erection of these flags.

“The Finaghy area, like other parts of South Belfast, is one,
which has experienced significant shifts in demographics in recent years. At
best, this factual reality is being ignored and at worst it has motivated
sections within loyalism to attempt to intimidate what is a mixed identity
community.

“These situations are being allowed to develop and fester due to
the lack of political will within unionism to deal with contentious issues such
as flags.

“The Haass process presented the greatest potential to date to
deal with contentious issues but unfortunately unionism failed to sign up to
the proposals.

“In the immediate future I will be again raising the flags issue
in South Belfast directly with the PSNI.

“The annual raising of tensions through the erection of flags on
lamp posts, particularly in mixed identity communities is unsustainable.

“However
there can be no dodging these issues in the future. The political will must be
created within unionism to find resolutions to contentious issues. The people
who elect us to represent them expect and deserve no less.”